Book Review: The Serpent and the Rose

The Serpent and the Rose by Catherine Butterfield is a historical fiction work about Marguerite de Valois, the daughter of Catherine de Medici. Marguerite began life as a French princess, became the Queen of Navarre through marriage, and chose to remove herself from that marriage as her husband became King of France.

We follow Marguerite's life through journal entries, allowing us to see her dysfunctional family and the craziness of court life from her point of view. I loved that this was written in first person and in present tense - an unusual POV for a historical fiction novel - because I became quite attached to Marguerite and her quick wit and dry sense of humor.

I typically do not care for books written about this period of time because I get slogged down in the details of a history I can't keep straight and names that mean nothing to me. However, Catherine did an amazing job keeping readers engaged with salient facts, a quick tempo, and dashes of humor. I loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone who loves historical fiction and a good laugh.

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